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A Day In Ahuachapan

Elizabeth, her Dad and I took a day trip to the city of Ahuachapán yesterday, I have visited this city many times but I always enjoy going back. Ahuachapán is in the mountains so it is cooler there then here in cara sucia, it is a very beautiful area and a very scenic trip from Cara Sucia to Ahuachapán, it is about an hour drive.
Ahuachapan has a population of appx 110,511 (2007), it is situated near the Guatemalan border, it is the westernmost city in the country and is the center of an agricultural region producing primarily coffee.
We had lunch at a very nice restaurant named Cafe Nubes it is located just outside of the city . I had the breast of chicken with mushroom sauce and a frozen strawberry drink, the food was delicious and the service was excellent . The restaurant has a lot of hand painted art work by a local artist that is very nice, he painted a wall mural and other paintings of flowers & plants on the tables and chairs of the restaurant. Cafe Nubes also has a beautiful garden area with all types of plants and flowers along a scenic walk way. I would recommend anyone visiting the area to stop by Cafe nubes. We really enjoyed it.
I have attacheda little bit of history on Ahuachapan and some pictures that we took.

Ahuachapán
Ahuachapán is a city located in the department of Ahuachapán, in the western region of El Salvador, at 100 km from the capital city of San Salvador. The city is located at 780 m over sea level in a valley north to the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range.
El Salvador is a pioneer in geothermal energy production. In the department of Ahuachapán (as well as in the city of Berlin, in the eastern department of Usulután) geothermal power plants have been installed. Geothermal plants produce energy from the steam coming from the earth, this due to the numerous hot steam fumes (geysers) in the area. These power plants provide for 23% of the energy consumed in El Salvador. Ahuachapán is famous for its hot steam fumes, which can reach up to 960o C. and while there you can visit the geothermal plant LaGeo.
The name Ahuachapán in Nahuatl means “place of house of oak or encino”. The town was founded by tribes Pok`omames around the V or VI century. In the XV century, Ahuachapán was conquered by rebellious Nahuas tribes. On September 15th 1821 Ahuachapán became annexed to the former state of Guatemala, and later in February 1824 became part of El Salvador again.
In march 1822 after the battle of ”Llano de El Espino” between Salvadorian and Guatemalan republicans, commanded by the brigadier and self-proclaimed emperor Agustín de Iturbide; Salvadorians won the battle but a few months later were defeated by Vincenzo Filisola, which then led him to take over the city of San Salvador until 1823.
Ahuachapán was proclaimed a city on February 11 1862 and later on February 9th 1869 it was declared capital city of the department under its same name.
The city has been hometown to many Salvadorian personalities: Its beautiful colonial church guards the remains of one of Central America’s most recognizable lawyers Dr. Isidro Menéndez (1795 – 1858). He was born in a house south to the main park of the city. The Park “Menendez” honors former president General Francisco Menéndez (1830 – 1890); a bronze plate shows where one of the regions greatest poets was born: Dr. Alfredo Espino (1900 – 1928) author of the poem “Jícaras Tristes”.

I hope you enjoy this post and as always please feel free to leave comments and or questions, I will address them.

I hope you enjoy this post and as always please feel free to leave comments and or questions, I will address them.